Improvement in safety-hatches for railroad cars



Q Sheets SheetI R. LISTDN', Safety Hatches fur Railroad Cars.

No. 135,923. Patented Feb.18,1873.

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R. LISTON. Safety Hatches for Railroad Cars. 135,923.

Patented Feb. 18, 1873.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT msron, on ALBANY, NEW YORK.

IMPRQVEMENT I N SAFETV-HATCHES FOR RAILROAD CARS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 135,923, dated February18, 1873.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT LIsToN, of the city and county of Albany andState of New York, have invented .a new Safety-Hatch for Railway Cars,of which the following is a full and exact description, reference beinghad to the accompanying drawing, making a part of this specification, inwhich- Figure 1, Sheet 1, is a perspective view of one end of apassenger-car, showing the hatchway in the top of the car opened. Fig. 2is an enlarged sectional "iew of one of the trans verse joints betweenthe hatch-cover and the top of the car, showing the mannerofconstructing them. Fig. 3, Sheet 2, is a plan view of the under side ofthe hatch-cover; and Fig. 4, a sectional view of the same through theline X X.

The nature of the first part of my invention consists in placing in thetop of the car a hatch or a series of hatches that may be speedily andeasily operatedin case of an accident whereby the cars are thrown upontheir sides, or when theyrun off into the water. The object of this partof my invention is to give greater protection tothe lives of passengersby providing additional modes of egress in case of accidents of the kindabove .ferred to. The second part of my invention elates to the devicefor securing and releasing the hatch-covers; and its object is to sesurean instantaneous opening of each cover by one simple movement of asingle lever.

I General Description.

' having the lap-pieces E E made to conform to the shape of the strips 0G. Between the strips 0 O and lap-pieces EE a strip of India rubber, F,is interposed for the purpose of making a dust and water tight joint.The

apound bolt for securing the cover upon the hatchway consists of abedpiece, G, two

slides, H H, (on the top sides and one edge of each of which are cutracks to receive the cogs of the pinion 1,) and segmental lever J. Thecross-bars K K are attached to opposite ends of the slides and connectthem to the bolts L L L L working through the guides M M M. When thecover D is in its place on the car the bolts L L L L enter into theclasps N N and clamp the cover securely to the car. When it becomesnecessary to detach the cover D the segmental lever J is moved backward,carrying with it the slide H, and this, through the pinion I, instantlyimparts a motion in the reverse direction to the slide H, drawing backall the bolts L L L L simultaneously, allowi 11g the cover to drop,,from its place it the car is thrown upon its side, or if floating inthe water permitting it to be easily removed.

The portion of the car shown in Fig. 1 is of the variety having a raisedmiddle roof for ventilation, in which the hatchway B is placed but myinvention can be applied .with equal facility to any car having adifferent form of roof. It does not require a car to be constructedespecially for it, as it can be readily applied to any of the variouskinds used; nor does it weaken the structure in the least degree, as itmay be placed between the carlings or frames of the roof, so that theclamping down of the cover by the bolts willretain a strength equal to awhole roof as commonly put on.

I claim as my iuvention- 1. In combination with the hatchway B, theedges of which are provided with the strips 0 O and rubber strips F, thecover D provided with the lap-pieces E E and clasps N N, and thecombination bolt G H H I J K L M, arranged as described, for thepurposes hereinbefore set forth.

.2. The combination bolt G H H I J K L M, in combination with the coverD, as and for the purpose hereinbefore set forth.

ROBT. LISTON, M. D.

Witnesses HENRY C. HASKELL, W. W. BRAGG.

